MAS unveils mgmt structure, departure of several top officials

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 30): MALAYSIAN AIRLINE SYSTEM BHD [] (MAS) unveiled a
management structure with new business units, group chief executive
officer Ahmad Jauhari taking on the role as CEO of long-haul and the
departure of several top officials.

The national carrier said on
Friday that deputy group CEO Mohammed Rashdan, who is CEO of
short-haul, would head the short-haul, group finance, aircraft finance
& management, and in the interim helm commercial.

Among the
new business units were the network, alliance, strategy & planning
division and programme management office. The divisions which would be
renamed were communications to strategic communications and corporate
finance as aircraft finance & management. Audit & business
advisory would be renamed internal audit, reflecting the heightened
roles of these business units required to support the airline's new
business plan announced on Dec 7.

The national carrier said the
new management structure, effective Jan 1, 2012 was to rally its staff
and steer it into a new era for the success of its business plan.

In the new structure, customer experience, operations, human capital,
network, alliance, strategy & planning would now report directly to
Ahmad Jauhari.

Commenting on the new management structure, Ahmad
Jauhari said the organisation structure signalled a new era for the MAS
group that would further build pride for its employees and confidence
for its customers and stakeholders.

'It involves the setting up
of several new business units and the re-naming of existing functions as
well as the introduction of new leaders to take over from familiar
faces who have decided to pursue other career opportunities.'


'This will ensure both the smooth transfer of responsibilities and the
successful execution of the business plan to enhance the group's
reputation and significance for its eventual entry into the oneworld
alliance by the end of 2012.'

MAS said the new organisation
structure would also see with the departure of the MAS senior team
including Datuk Dr Amin Khan (from commercial strategy), Mohd Roslan
Ismail (MAS aerospace engineering), Shahari Sulaiman (MASkargo) and
Datin Sharifah Salwa Syed Kamaruddin (revenue management).

'I
take this opportunity to thank these colleagues for their many
contributions, commitment and dedication to Malaysia Airlines and wish
them well in their future endeavours,' he said.

Commenting on
the network, alliance, strategy & planning division, he said it
would support the effective implementation of the group's network to
meet the dynamic needs of the market and to leverage on strategic
alliances and partnerships with other airlines.

This division,
viewed as a crucial game changers of the business plan, would focus on
aspects covering rights planning, network, aircraft utilisation and
strategy.

The programme management office would drive the
implementation, alignment and tracking of key initiatives and activities
to support the business plan's recovery phase and game changers to
unlock and maximise the value of Malaysia Airlines Group.

Ahmad
Jauhari said the MAS group's leadership team would be strengthened with
the entry of highly experienced talents, namely Hugh Dunleavy to lead
network, alliance, strategy & planning and Shihaj Kutty to lead
revenue management.

He said Dunleavy, had more than 30 years
experience in the aviation industry, and joined MAS 'with a solid
reputation for delivering results in his assigned areas'.

These
include strategy and planning, revenue/yield management, airline
alliances, decision support systems, operations research and regulatory
affairs.

Dunleavy's previous senior positions were at WestJet
Airlines, Lufthansa Systems, Star Alliance, Air Canada and at PROS
(Passenger Revenue Optimization Systems) revenue management.


Shihaj Kutty has over 15 years experience in aviation, specifically in
sales and revenue management, as well as managing reservations and
ticketing offices for major European and Gulf carriers while based in
the Gulf region. He joins MAS from Etihad Airways where he was head of
pricing.

Both report for duty at MAS by mid-January 2012